Between the Scenes
by AllTheNamesAreTakenAlready
Summary: There is more than one side to every story. For a moment, forget the heroes, forget Harry and Ron. This is a story about what happens when they aren't around.
1. Chapter 1

Draco stood in an alley way, waiting for his meeting. It was an odd place for it but the setting wasn't the strangest thing about it. Hermione Granger had called him a few hours before and told him to be there. As if the fact that she had called wasn't weird enough, he had actually shown. The old Draco wouldn't have done that.

In the four months since the battle of Hogwarts, Draco had began to change. He wasn't sure exactly when it had happened or how much of the old him had died; but the boy who had joined the Death Eaters was not the scarred and battered man who had emerged. Most of the people he knew had been sent to Azkaban for their crimes. Only a clerical error had saved him from the same fate.

Comparatively, Harry Potter and his lackeys had been living large since their victory, as far as he heard it. They now had everything they wanted, while people like him were left with nothing to offer anyone. So why had he been summoned by the Mudblood? It was odd.

She arrived then, an unobtrusive figure, telltale ginger hair hidden beneath the cowl of her hooded cloak. Draco put his hands in his pockets and lounged against the wall. He felt his usual sneer slip into place. It didn't feel right anymore. Apparently that was a part of him that had been damaged. Nevertheless, he had nothing to replace it with. Fake disdain was better than nothing.

"Granger," he acknowledged her.

She pulled back her hood and squinted at him.

"Malfoy? You look different,"

He shrugged, "So do you. Have you gained weight?"

She pursed her lips and conflicting emotions flashed behind her eyes. She clearly did not want to say whatever she was about to say. Finally, she forced the words out from between clenched teeth.  
>"I need your help,"<p>

He snorted, "If I ever feel inclined to help you, I'll send you a letter. Now, if that's all−"

She whipped out her wand and pressed it into his nose. He froze.

"You are going to help me," she said with frightening calm, "I'm pretty confident I can make you feel inclined to do so,"

He swallowed. He could hear his pulse racing. God damn it, if he'd wanted to die, he could just have done the right thing while he was a Death Eater. Hermione must have seen something she didn't like in his expression, because her resolve wavered. Finally, she lowered her wand.

"I won't do it his way," she said.

Draco didn't have to wonder long who she was talking about. He had seen enough cruciatus curses working for his old boss.

So, knowing Granger and her stance on violence, he was quite surprised when she stepped forward and kneed him in a very sensitive area. He doubled over, gasping.

"Help me?" she said, pausing to kick him in the shins, "Please,"

"Are you insane?"

"Just about. Harry and Ron are missing and the Ministry is covering it up. No one is helping them,"

"And you want me to save them?"

She grabbed a handful of his hair and forced him to look at her, "Pretty please,"

"Okay, okay! Stop kicking me!"

She stopped, like nothing had happened. She offered him a hand back up but he didn't take it. Glaring at her, he pulled out his own wand. Best not to be caught unprepared again. She nodded, satisfied.

"Okay, let's start working. Harry went missing about three weeks ago and…"

Over her shoulder, Draco caught sight of movement at the mouth of the alley. Next thing he knew, a flare of red light erupted on Hermione's back and she crumpled to the ground with a small gasp. Swearing, Draco fired a quick series of stunning charms in the direction of the light. There was the sound of footsteps as someone ran to escape the onslaught. There was no return fire. He glanced around. Granger was down and he could easily evade her. He didn't have to help her with anything.

But whoever had hit her with the spell was probably going to come back.

"Damn it," he said and bent to carry her to safety.


	2. Chapter 2

When Hermione woke up, she began firing whiny questions with startling precision. Draco was absently levitating a paper plane, his back to her. She lay in a heap on the floor, where he had dumped her. Just because he hadn't left her to die or be carried away by gypsies or whoever it was making off with members of Potter's notorious trio didn't mean that he was suddenly her best friend.

"Where am I?" she demanded, "Malfoy, is that you? What happened?"

He caught the plane, plucking it neatly out of the air. The action made him miss simpler times, when winning a game of Quidditch had seemed important. Granted, it had only seemed so because he had wanted to beat Harry Potter. That had never changed but the stakes had become higher as the two of them grew older.

"You're awake," Draco yawned, "Took you long enough,"

She stood up and walked around his chair, planting herself in front of him and placing her hands on her hips. With that blazing mane of hair, she looked a little bit frightening.

"What. Happened?" she demanded furiously.

"You fell unconscious and I moved you,"

Her face twisted in anger and she fumbled for her wand. Smirking, he pulled it from the waist band of his pants and dangled it teasingly in front of her.

"Naturally, I took this away while you had your little nap,"

"You… "

"Come on Granger, an eloquent person such as yourself can surely come up with better insults than that,"

She frowned suddenly, "You didn't call me a mudblood,"

"What?"

"This is one of the longer conversations we've had and you haven't said it yet," she peered at him curiously, "Why not?"

Why hadn't he? Did he feel differently about bloodlines now that Voldemort's regime had fallen? He wasn't sure. Somehow though, her presence wasn't bothering him as much as he had expected it to. Perhaps he was ill.

"How about we make a deal?" he said, ignoring her question, "I'll tell you what happened if you tell me why it's my help you're after,"

She exhaled loudly through her nose, "I think the Ministry is involved in this somehow. You are one of the only people I know for sure isn't secretly helping them,"

"Why are you so sure of that?"

"Because you're a Death Eater and you are laying low. Most of the other people like you are either in prison or would be… unhelpful to me,"

He considered that. She tapped her foot impatiently.

"So tell me what happened,"

"You got hit by a stunning curse. Maybe someone was trying to kidnap you to finish their collection," he told her.

"And you saved me?"

He frowned, "I guess I did,"

"Are you feeling okay?"

He laughed bitterly at that, "I am deliriously happy. My life is fantastic and everything is going according to plan," he spread his hands, "Who knows, maybe I should change tactics. So, how can I help you?"


End file.
